(edit title) Should I move to Sweden, and how hard will it be? I am a Canadian student thinking about moving HELP Options

[Mediaman]

This post could go on for quite awhile so why don't you ask specific questions instead and have peoples answer them directly instead?

Thanks for your reply! What you describe sounds a lot like me. But part of the reason I'm interested in moving to Sweden is to get out of my shell and force myself to learn something new and meet new friends. So I'm just curious what the Swede/expat relationship can be like...is it hard to meet locals...etc.

I'm a pretty laid back type of guy but I do have a great sense of humour and like to be around fun people. I guess just want to know what it's like to meet new people in Sweden and how I can build the bond with locals!

Thanks

Geoff

[VargasGray]

Yes, many Swedes are laid back when it comes to friendship and whatnot. The way I've made friends is to see what a encounter may lead somewhere but I've never forced it upon me to make friends nor force others to be my friend. Those that want to become my friend should understand who I am from the beginning and go from there. I've found that this is the best way to befriend a Swede, I'm a Swede too but not entirely, is to be laid back, do not try to force yourself to be funny or interesting, ask them nicely if they wish to have a drink or if you can tag along - also be polite and don't brag.

I can give you an example of how I and my family socialize with our neighbours to give you another example how easy going we actually are. Yesterday three neighbours went over to our place when they heard that we were going to have a barbecue. The first neighbour, single, is often visiting us. The second neighbours, a married couple, tend to visit us every two or three months. The third neighbours, also a married couple, haven't been over since five months ago. We still didn't care about that fact but instead we socialized, joked about, talked about serious topics and did some practical jokes on each others. They came over around 15:00 and left 02.00. Do you understand somewhat how we look on friendship?

In regards to going out: Swedes loves going out, either by themselves or in a group. I've meet Swedes on local bars/pubs that went alone who did join my group, almost like that person know us and we didn't really care as long we had a great fun. Randomly you can experience totally random groups of Swedes agreeing with another group that they should meet at this or that bar/pub. So for me, when it comes to the night life of Stockholm, I've had more interesting and fun experiences then negative ones. But again I can only speak for myself but still I wish that this will give you a hint how Swedes actually can be.

Of course you as a foreigner might find it somewhat difficult to decode our social language but if you take it easy it should be all right. Also: Swedes love honest peoples, it's a relief to us since we often to tend to hide our emotions and don't speak about them.

[zalman123]

ok i see many of you asked why do i hate canada i should correct my self, i hate north america! i hate the people, the attitudes and every little thing about the governmen ... (show full quote)

ok i see many of you asked why do i hate canada i should correct my self, i hate north america! i hate the people, the attitudes and every little thing about the government that believe it or not it affects a fr 16 year old greatly! ... (hide full quote)

I think that you are blaming a whole country for being unsatisfied or unhappy (you hate the people, the attitudes, and the government... maybe you also hate the weather and the environment in Canada???).

Sweden is not the best place to live in if you are a foreigner. You should expect that you will not get any of these "life goals" easily:

-Finding a job.
-Making friends.
-Living a normal life without a fluent Swedish (OK, most people know English, but every thing is in Swedish).
-Winter are not too cold as in Canada, but they are dark (and they get darker as you go north), you will get depressed if you like the sunlight.
-Finding an apartment in Stockholm area is not an easy job.
-Life is expensive, forget about saving any extra money for future plans.

[VargasGray]

Sweden is not the best place to live in if you are a foreigner. You should expect that you will not get any of these "life goals" easily:

Like any country are. It only depends on your goals, attitude and stamina - more or less.

[wintermute]

Let me present an alternative point of view from an IT guy's perspective (the situation might be different for other occupants).

I'd say Sweden is extremely friendly to immigrants. You can get along with your English absolutely fine -- I've been living here for two years, did my MSc in Gothenburg and found a decent job quite easily and without speaking a single word in Swedish. I still see no reason for learning it. Also I find Swedes to be very positive and easy-going people, I've never had any communication issues with them. A nation of disciplined and beautiful people, huge respect!

Swedish version of socialism is the major issue for me. I understand that it's probably the most humane system in the world, but I personally prefer somewhat cruel and competitive US kind of style more, thus I'm thinking of moving to Germany eventually. However, this is very subjective.

I wish you best of luck implementing your dreams, it's not that complex and mostly depends on how hard you really want it =)

[VargasGray]

Hi, wintermute. I want to ask you a question to, perhaps, shed some light from your perspective on this issue with "breaking the ice", if I could express it like that.

Did you experience Swedes being reluctant to speak to you, and how did you manage that?

Did you experience Swedes being cold or hard to befriend, and how did you manage that?

Did you experience that it was hard to get a Swede, or more then one, to have a drink at the bar, invite you out to a party or having dinner with you?

I might guess the answers to these questions but still it would be interesting to hear it from someone that has succeeded here in Sweden as an Immigrant.

[wintermute]

Hello, VargasGray,

I'd say people are most of the time positive and communicate readily and friendly when I address them (which doesn't happen that often in my case). Swedes invited me to various parties, dinners, cinemas, etc. Several times I was the only non-Swedish person in the group, and then people didn't ignore me, but spoke English instead (of course, it depends on the size of the company).

I've never had a problem befriending a Swede, probably because I don't really seek for making friends with unknown people or at some random locations like bars, clubs, etc. At the same time, Swedish fika institution is really great for getting acquainted with other students, colleagues and other people surrounding you. I always enjoy having a nice, positive and sometimes even informative discussions on the trains and planes, when my neighbor looks interesting to me -- so far everybody reacted openly and spoke fluent English.

Speaking about the reasons... I believe some degree of altruism and optimism is always appreciated. When you do your job right (in broad sense) and help others for no reason, doing everything with the positive attitude, people will naturally turn to you. But I guess Sweden is no different from any other country in this respect.

To be honest, I don't see that much of a difference between Swedish and Belarusian (home, sweet home) types of communication. Ah, no, I can tell at least one major difference! Here I was somewhat shocked, when a nice student girl invited me to join her for a concert, although we knew each other for only two days. Same at the parties, I had an impression that the girls are even more active in communication than the guys. That was simply impossible back home.

Oh, I remembered another prominent feature -- people either won't tell you what they really think about you, or they will do it very explicitly. I mean, there seems to be nothing in between I will never forget a friend of mine inviting me on a "serious talk" about my (certainly ugly) behavior on one occasion. Also, it was quite unusual to hear people saying things like "you are very interesting, I want to meet more often with you", or "you are a bunch of fuckin' losers, I'm leaving"

What I can say for sure is that Sweden taught me to be more polite and tolerant, and I really appreciate this culture for being so civilized.

[CanukSwede]

Canada sucks - coming from a 16 yr old. LOL!! Kid, you have no idea how good you've got it. Sweden ain't shabby either but its unlikely you'll find much in Sweden than you can't get in Canada and will actually miss some things.

But you're young, so when the time comes do it just for the adventure. I did the living in Europe thing when I was in my early 20's for a few years, but eventually returned home, just like you probably will.

[VargasGray]

That was a straight forward eye opener there Wintermute, a really interesting read. It really high lightened a few things. To be honest I do not know how to even respond to you further then except perhaps like this:

[glamoures]

You want to move to Sweden! I am also 16 and want to move to Canada. The reasons why you dont want to live in this country:
1. The most of the people I have meet, are so selfish. You can be too nice with them but they wont be nice back.
2. There is nothing fun you can do here! no fun activities.
3. when it comes to job, its even hard for swedish educated swedish people to find a job. You know europe is not in a good ekonomic situation.

You know that Canada is pretty similar you Sweden, I have studied in English school here in Sweden for 2,5 years and many of them came from Canada.

Could you tell some reasons why Canada as you said suck?